Marvelous 4D3N Macau 2015 (#DreamTripComeTrue) - Day 2

First day waking up in Macau. Today we will be checking-into one of the most prestigious hotels in Macau thanks to MGTO! This hotel has been host to countless celebrities and also hosted Manchester United's football team when it was newly opened in 2007. It is none other than --> THE VENETIAN MACAO!!! I am sure many of you would have seen the selfie of David Beckham recently in the hotel's swimming pool too :)

Beckham's selfie at Venetian Macao

*Drum roll* Congrats to Amni Mohamed Zain for winning the contest in my previous entry. One special souvenir will be coming your way!! Will also be getting a small gift for Nicole Yong for participating :)

Day 2 Itinerary (all currencies in Macau pataca unless stated:
7.30am Wake up
8.40am Breakfast (Pork chop bun) ($17 each)
9.00am Church service at Morrison Chapel

10.30am A quick tour from the church to Macau Cathedral.
11.30 am Visit Lou Kau mansion
11.50 am Back at hotel and checkout
12.30 am Take free shuttle to City of Dreams from Sintra Hotel stop.
12.50 am Arrive at City of Dreams and stop by Hard Rock Cafe
1.40pm Shopping at Hard Rock + Mocktails (Amazingly done by expert bartender Belinda)
2.30pm Check-in at The Venetian Macao (Cotai view Bella Suit - Sponsored by MGTO)
4.45pm Walk to Taipa Village (Flower garden, Taipa houses and food market)
5.50pm Dinner at Cafe Taipa ($196)
7.00pm Dessert at at Gelatina Mok Yi Kei (Serradurra - Sawdust Pudding) ($25 each)
7.30pm Second dessert at Serrdura (Mango-GreenTea Serradurra) ($20 each)
7.50pm Walk to Galaxy Hotel and take free shuttle to Macau Ferry Terminal
8.00pm Reach ferry terminal and walk to Fisherman's Wharf
8.20pm Photos around Fisherman's Wharf
9.20am Visit Sands Hotel casino
10.00pm Take free shuttle from Sands to Venetian Macao
10.20am Reach Venetian Macao and walk around (Casino, shopping area, food court, etc)
11.30pm Back to hotel suite
11.45pm Chit chat, munch on snacks and plan for the next day.
2.00am Lights off

You can view my Day 1 itinerary  if you missed it :)

Our first pork chop bun...from a bakery! lolz.

Let's get down to the details of day 2. We wanted to experience a church service in Macau and found a protestant church nearby - Morrisson Chapel. Little did we know, this approximately two-hundred year old church is ground zero - Where Protestantism started in Macau! We found this precious information through the priest in charge (Rev. Stephen Durie) over morning tea after the service. The church building is small, cosy and beautiful. The moment we stepped in we felt welcomed when Samiya Allan ushered us to the front seats. The sermon was on believing the good news and that God selects ordinary individuals like us for His work. I would recommend anyone visiting Macau to drop by Morrisson Chapel to see and feel a different side of Christianity in Macau compared to the many Catholic churches there :)

A little bit of history on this church.

The inside of the church, the cemetery behind and us :)

"Traders of the East India Company were engaged in trade with China from the late eighteenth century until 1834. Their charter included stipulations that employees regularly attend divine services, and that chaplains be sent out from England to minister the spiritual needs of employees.

Before 1821, when the land for a chapel and burial ground (now the Old Protestant Cemetery) was purchased, the chapel was probably simply a room at the offices of the British East India Company. The purchase of the burial ground was prompted by the death of Mary Morrison, wife of Robert Morrison, missionary and translator employed by the East India Company. Prior to this, the Portuguese authorities had only allowed Roman Catholic burials in the colony.

Nothing is known about the construction of the first chapel at the site. The first recorded ceremony at the chapel was a marriage in 1833.

In 1834, when the East India Company lost its trade monopoly, responsibility for the Chapel and cemetery was taken by the British government. In 1870 this responsibility was transferred by Deed of Transfer to Trustees consisting of three high ranking representatives of at least two nations having Protestant members living in Macau.

In 1921, the Chapel required complete rebuilding, except for the original foundation. Two conditions were placed on these works; it had to be hidden from the street behind a high wall, and it could have no church bell. The chapel has remained structurally unaltered since the completion of these works in 1922.

In 1941 Florence Li Tim-Oi became the pastor of the congregation swollen in numbers by refugees from the mainland and later from Hong Kong; she had been made an Anglican deacon on Ascension Day in Hong Kong. When men priests could no longer reach Macao, she was licensed by the Assistant Bishop of Canton to preside at Holy Communion services. The Bishop of Hong Kong and South China regularised her position by ordaining her 'a Priest of God' in Shui Hing on 25 January 1944. She thus became the first woman priest in the worldwide Anglican Communion and continued her ministry in Macao until 1946. Li Tim-Oi Foundation" Source: Macau Protestant Chapel

Whoaaa.....in a nutshell, here is where Christianity was first sown in Macau and also where the first ever Anglican female pastor was ordained!! Unfortunately during the rebuilding, it was forced to be hidden behind a high wall and no bells were allowed (no wonder it was a bit difficult locating the church....It is only a stone's throw away from St. Anthony's!)

Here's another piece of history for you: Dr Robert Morrison (1782-1834) was the first lay Protestant missionary in China. He was the first to translate and publish the Bible in Chinese and he produced the first Chinese dictionary. He also evangelized and baptized the first Chinese Protestant convert Mr Choi Kou!

After the 90 minutes church service, we were given a quick tour by one of the church members, Samiya Allan.  She turned out to be a blessing in disguise as she was extremely knowledgeable on the history of Macau and also the attractions. Samiya guided us from the church all the way to the top of St. Paul's Ruins and then down to Macau Cathedral square. Within the 30 minutes we were able to imagine the early days of Macau and also strategically plan our route for the day (we only had limited time because we needed to check out soon).

Some of the sights we passed

Not only we were fortunate enough to witness a proposal in Macau, but we also managed to see a bride fetching ceremony! This trip seems to be turning into a trip of love! :)

After that, we stopped by Lou Kau Mansion before heading back to the hotel for checkout.

Managed to take some good shots inside the mansion

The view from out hotel room...Not bad :)

Us on the free shuttle heading to City of Dreams

City of Dreams is situated on an island across the bridge from Macau peninsula.  This island consist of 2 smaller islands (Taipa & Coloane) that are joined by a strip of reclaimed land (Cotai Strip).Cotai was created to provide Macau with a new gambling and tourism area since Macau is so densely populated and land is scarce. Here is where all the new casinos and hotels are being built.

As we alighted the bus, we were greeted by a long limo across the entrance. Once you step into the City of Dreams, the casino entrance welcomes you, and you will be mesmerized by the Vquarium (virtual aquarium) surrounding the casino entrance. There were also some silver goats prepared to usher into the lunar new year. TT went into the casino to add to his chip collection while Sueann, Carrine and i decide to check out the Hard Rock souvenir shop.

The Hard Rock souvenir shop is divided to 2 floors. One is on the ground floor while the other is on the first floor just beside the Hard Rock cafe. There were quite a few good selection of items on sale. If you are ever in Macau, don't forget to drop by and get something here :)

Oh yea....The best part was not the sale but the sales person. We were served by Belinda Carvalho (later found out that she is the bar supervisor as well as one of the best bartenders in the house!).  The manager on duty, Angeline joined us at the payment counter and we really felt welcomed speaking to them. They also suggested we signup as a Hard Rock member to gain points for purchases in any Hard Rock hotels/cafe/souvenir shops around the world. While Sueann and Carrine were filling up the form, Angeline suddenly threw us a challenge. She said if we could guess the song that was playing in the background we would get a free drink at the Hard Rock cafe! I quickly strained my ears to listen and heard the following lyrics:

¯"I can't believe the news today

Oh, I can't close my eyes 

And make it go away

How long...

How long must we sing this song

How long, how long...

'cause tonight...we can be as one

Tonight..."¯

Omggggg!!It sounded super familiar but our brains were not working! She gave us 3 chances and we blew the first 2 with wild guesses. She was nice enough to throw us a hint - The band is from Ireland. No many bands (famous ones at least) are from this island - The 3rd largest island in Europe. Just as we are about to give up, the chorus came up "Sunday..Bloody Sunday¯" Bono!! As i muttered U2, Angeline gave me a high 5 as Sueann and Carrine looked bemused. Yaaaay! We declined the free drink offer at first but Angeline insisted and we got to choose 3 free drinks instead of 1...Whoa! and to top it off, we got the best bartender in the house to mix us those drinks! 

Belinda rocked our taste buds with this 3 drinks - 2 off the menu & one specially crafted for me :)

Us and our drinks

And did i mention that we were also allowed on stage to live our rock star dream? :) :) :)

Introducing Sueann on the keyboard, Carrine on the drums and us on stage!

We also took a picture with Sir Kingsley! Ain't he cool?

This was definitely one of the best experiences in Macau. Belinda and Angeline reiterated what we noticed in Day 1 in Macau...The best part of Macau is not only its attractions or its food - - - It is the people! They are so friendly and willing to help. Even though some are not proficient in English, they try their best to help by pointing out directions or drawing out the details on a paper.

We easily spent an hour in Hard Rock and made a reservation to come back later at night to watch a live band from Indonesia.

Next we walked across to our accommodation for the next 3 days - The Venetian Macao!

The hotel was just amazing! First time staying in such an expensive hotel!

We were mesmerized the moment we stepped into the hotel. I walked over to the check-in counter and tried my luck asking for a free room upgrade if available. Guess what--- Request granted! We got upgraded to a suite with the Cotai View (This is the view of all the major hotels along Cotai Strip- it is aaaammmmmaaaaaazing at night!) Oh yeah...any guesses how much is the published room rate per night for our room?  RM500? RM1000, RM 1500? Check out the next picture! :)

HKD 8500 which is approximately RM4000!! Isn't that crazy!

We spent nearly 2 hours inside our suite - Taking pictures, checking out the room, jumping on the super comfy beds, watching tv, trying out the toilets and many more. When we have enough (never had enough really), we took a leisure stroll to Taipa Village where we visited the flower garden, Taipa Houses and food market. It is only about 10-15 minute walk from our hotel.

Some shots taken in the flower garden in Taipa

And did i mention we came across another lovely moment in Macau? - Wedding photoshoot in Taipa Flower Garden :)

A yellow Starbucks Coffee shop in Taipa

Our stomachs' were beginning their orchestra so we decided to head on to the Taipa food market to look for dinner. After surveying a few restaurants, we ended up in Cafe Taipa. The food and pricing in this restaurant is very reasonable. Please note that they close at 6pm. We were fortunate as we entered the shop about 5.45pm! The four dishes that were ordered were slices of fried pressed fish with noodles in soup, oven braised ox tail in red wine sauce with rice, baked Portuguese chicken rice and baked curried pork chop with rice. We wanted to order the African chicken dish but was told it would take an hour to prepare :( Every dish that we ordered were excellent! I highly recommend trying the food here if you visit Taipa. After dinner we continued walking around Taipa searching for desserts. We settled on Serradura (Sawdust Pudding-original flavour) at Gelatina Mok Yi Kei and then another round of Mango-GreenTea Serradurra  at Serrdura (this is along Cafe Taipa, nearer to the McDonalds). The latter was below our expectation. It was too frozen and the taste was so-so. If you only had one try for sawdust pudding, please try the one at Gelatina Mok Yi Kei instead :)

Dinner and desserts in Taipa Village

Although we were stuffed, we wanted to stop by Restaurante Tan Lei Lok Kei for the famous pork chop bun in Taipa. Unfortunately when we managed to find it, they were already closed for the day :(

Closed :(

Disappointed, we picked ourselves up and were wondering what else can we do when TT suggested we visit The Fisherman's Wharf. I remember writing in my blog about the free shuttle buses from the casinos so we walked over to the Galaxy Hotel which is across Taipa Village main entrance. Buses from here run every 15-20 minutes to pickup/drop-off locations such as Macau Tower, Macau Ferry Terminal, Macau Peninsula and to other casinos. We took the one to Macau Ferry Terminal as the Fisherman's Wharf is only a short walk  away (If you want a shorter walk, take the shuttle to Sands Hotels - It is right across the entrance).

The entrance to Fishermans Wharf, Entrance of Taipa Village, view from the bus terminal at Galaxy Hotel and view of Sands Hotel as we cross the bride.

The Fisherman's Wharf is where you will find  the mini Colosseum. This place is open 24/7 and there is no entry fees. We had a good time taking photos and admiring some of the European styled buildings. My fiancee and i tried doing a few romantic poses in front of the mini Roman Amphitheater too!

This is surely a favourite spot for pre-wedding photos in Macau

Some of TT's casino chip collection in Macau

After that we walked across to Sands Hotel for the shuttle back but decided to visited the casinos before hopping on the bus. Although not as big as the one in Venetian, the casino is pretty entertaining. They had a salsa dance performance when we were there and free coffee/tea/milk or juice. TT added to his collection of casinos chips and we were back on our way to the hotel.

Overall, day 2 was another marvelous day in Macau. We met more amazing people, checked into an amazing hotel. tried some amazing Macau food and took amazing pictures. Can't wait to see what Day 3 has to offer us! Leaving you guys with the prize Amni won for correctly guessing the hotel's name :)

Hope you received it already :) 

How can i forget? Here's a selfie of myself similar to the one taken by David Beckham at the Venetian Macao swimming pool :)

Lights off for Day 2 in Macau....ZZZzzzzzz.....

Click here for DAY 1